As a way of saying thank you to our local community, the profits of all copies of ‘The Healing Paths of Fife’ sold on Kinghorn High Street will be in aid of different Kinghorn charities, starting with The Over 60’s Lunch Club for February, March and April 2018.

My first memories of Kinghorn were looking over the Braes down to Kinghorn Harbour.

The Village Show in August 2013, admiring the lengthy carrots and mouth watering scones and sponges, not to mention the vibrant village atmosphere, coincided with our second visit.

We also enjoyed a warm welcome at The Wee Shoppe, a place we still frequent for a cuppa, blether and an occasional toastie. Mind you, these resilient folks can sometimes be out in inclement weather and they’re still smiling 🙂

I have such happy memories of New Year’s Day when the hardy folks of Kinghorn go in for a dip at The Loony Dook in aid of The Lifeboats.

When the sun is shining down on this sheltered bay it is possible to bask in its warmth twelve months of the year, and we do!

Kinghorn became our temporary home for a year but we did not notice the gradual capturing of our hearts, even when there’s an icing sugar coating of snow which happens very rarely.

It took a wee while to realise that one day we would call Kinghorn our home.

As in many parts of Fife, the industries of Kinghorn are long gone ~ a tannery, linoleum manufacturer and boat builders to name but three. Today small businesses thrive and the High Street has a variety of busy shops including arts and crafts at The Sea Witch and The Dragon’s Den, a dressmakers and many cafes and pubs, including the recently reopened Harbour View. (Known locally as the Carousel due to connections with the fair ground trade I believe.) The Station Gallery is well worth a visit on a Saturday morning too. In fact, we are a creative lot here in Kinghorn. Look out for the ever popular Round the Horn where people open up their houses to show off their work.

(Author Diana Jackson enjoys researching social history and this inspires her writing. Her latest release ‘The Healing Paths of Fife’, a fantasy / memoir, reflects her growing love for the Kingdom of Fife.)

The villages of three bridges, North Queensferry (and Queensferry ~ the better known tourist spot across the water) have always been the key places to view the famous Forth Rail Bridge.

On our first visits there were only two bridges, including the 1960’s road bridge, but now of course you have the majestic Queensferry Crossing too, which is akin to enormous white sails reflected the sunlight.

I remember driving into North Queensferry in search of a Sunday Roast, only to be sent across the water to The Hawes Inn; the place where Robert Louis Stevenson allegedly wrote Kidnapped. Incidentally, we had a wonderful meal there; the span of the burnt orange bridge filling our view as we ate.

In North Queensferry, however, there are two pubs which serve food, a restaurant ~ ‘The Wee Restaurant’ which has been mentioned on TV recently, and also a bistro which we usually frequent. It is also the site of the Deep Sea World Aquarium, which we have yet to enjoy, since we are waiting for a younger visitor to impress on a wet day!

For me, North Queensferry was the beginning of my walk in earnest along the Fife Coastal Path all the way to St Andrews. The official path does, in fact, begin at the Kincardine Arch which we have seen from the road, and finishes at the Newburgh Arch. We have yet to participate in these pleasures.

It was on the cliff above North Queensferry, as we looked down on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth moored near the Forth Rail Bridge, that we met a couple who had recently moved to Fife. The lady’s words have remained in my mind,’

‘We seem to have our own eco climate here on the Fife Coast along the Forth, with lots of sunshine.’

(Author Diana Jackson enjoys researching social history and this inspires her writing. Her latest release ‘The Healing Paths of Fife’, a fantasy / memoir, reflects her growing love for the Kingdom of Fife.)